I spent three weeks with my mom this last summer, just the two of us in her house in Florida. She said a lot of things I was glad to hear—sometimes hilarious, sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes sentimental. The first one was,

“I’m 85, and I intend to be 95.”

Generally she’s well in physical health and attitude. Why shouldn’t she live to be 95?

I was glad to hear Mom say this because it reflects both gratitude for the life she has lived and intentionality about her remaining years. I’ll let those lessons speak for themselves.

What positive attitudes do you think contribute to your overall health?

My grandfather always said that any day he was alive and in good health, then God obviously expected him to learn something or do something for someone else that day. I took that as my motto a long time ago, and hope that, like him, I have a legacy of 93 years of service to show for it by the end.